


spiral of lies

by Acaeria



Series: oops! all bits [3]
Category: Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Titans (Comics)
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Implied/Referenced Amnesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:48:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25639018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acaeria/pseuds/Acaeria
Summary: "And at that point– I couldn’t just come clean. It would be– awkward.”“Awkward,” Roy echoed, disbelieving.“Yes,” Kori agreed matter-of-factly. “So I doubled down.”“You committed to the bit,” Wally says, and Kori nods at him appreciatively.“Exactly. So I pretended to have amnesia.”
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Koriand'r (past), Roy Harper/Koriand'r (past)
Series: oops! all bits [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1858654
Comments: 2
Kudos: 73





	spiral of lies

**Author's Note:**

> so like, on one hand, tamaranians having repression as their primary trauma response mechanism is super interesting from a psychological perspective, and it'd be cool to dive into that in more depth--
> 
> but on the other? this concept is much, much funnier. 
> 
> i haven't read much (teen) titans stuff, and though i spent a couple hours skimming issues in prep for writing this, i'm far from comfortable with their voices, so pls excuse any ooc-ness! also shout out to isa on the fandom support group discord for sending the message that inspired me to write this

Kori hovers outside of the window of the new Titans’ Tower, watching through the glass as her old friends mill about inside. They’re playing some kind of video game, Dick and Wally currently holding the controllers, while Roy sits on the back of the sofa and attempts to distract them from the screen. Donna and Lilith are looking at something on Lilith’s phone, chattering excitedly, and occasionally looking up to make comments on the game’s process. Garth is sitting on the floor, leaning up against the couch, a small smile on his face as he soaks in the others’ conversations.

It’s nice. Kori’s happy for them, even as she feels a small pang of longing in her chest. Her Titans days are over, she knows that.

Still, it’d be nice to join them, just for one night.

So she pulls up closer to the window, and taps on the glass.

Donna is the first to look up, her face brightening as she sees Kori. Lilith waves. As Donna gets up to open a window, it draws the others’ attentions– except for Dick and Wally, both incredibly invested in their game by the looks of things– and Roy lights up, hopping off the back of the couch, a grin on his face. 

“Kori, hi!” Donna greets, as Kori slips in through the opened window. 

“Hi, Donna,” Kori greets, smiling widely as the other woman pulls her into a hug. “How are you?”

“Good,” Donna says with a grin. “Though, between you and me, things could be better– I’m still stuck shepherding these lot after how many years?” 

“Hey!” Wally complains, as the scores for his and Dick’s game flash up on screen (Kori spares a glance; Wally won). “We’re adults, you don’t have to shepherd us at all!”

“You say that, and yet…” Donna shoots Kori a knowing look, and Kori chuckles, turning to the rest of the room only to be greeted by an armful of Roy Harper.

“Kori!” he greets, brightly, and she hugs him back, lifting him up in the air and twirling, drawing out a laugh. 

“It is good to see you again, Roy,” she tells him, placing him back on the ground. “I’m glad to see you made amends.”

Roy rubs the back of his head a little awkwardly. “Well, after the whole thing with the timelines and the amnesia, it all kinda just… came together.”

Kori tilts her head a little curiously. She’d known that the Titans had reunited, but she didn’t exactly have the full context as to what happened. “You’ll have to tell me that story,” she tells him. Then, she turns to Dick and Wally, who have abandoned their controllers and come over to greet her. “Hi,” she says.

“Hi, Kori,” Dick says, a little awkwardly, and she rolls her eyes, reaching out to pull him into a hug. 

“It’s been a while,” she says, releasing him. “You’ve been well?”

He shrugs. “As well as I’ve ever been,” he replies, easy smile. Kori feels a pang of regret and longing, followed by the uncomfortable awareness of the fact that she has more than one ex in the room. 

This is immediately washed away by Wally complaining, “Hey, don’t I get a hug?” Kori laughs, and pulls him into an embrace as well. 

“Have you eaten yet, Kori?” Donna asks. Kori shakes her head. “Our order’s just about ready to collect, why don’t you join us, catch up?”

“I’d love to,” Kori tells her.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the Titans– current and former– are all sat on the floor surrounded by a myriad of pizza boxes, as they explain the situation surrounding their reformation while Kori listens, intent.

“I mean, you get it,” Roy says, “You had that whole amnesia thing, too.”

Kori tries not to stiffen. “I don’t think it was the same as the spell affecting all of you,” she returned. 

“Amnesia thing?” Lilith asks, curious and a little concerned.

“Yeah, when we first met– uh, re-met– Kori had… it wasn’t really amnesia? Some kind of Tamaranian psychological defence mechanism, makes you forget painful memories. ‘S why she didn’t remember any of us.”

“Huh,” Wally comments, “Weird.” 

“Yeah, so, anyway, then–”

“Hang on,” Dick interrupts, frowning. “That’s not– that’s not a thing, right, Kori?”

_ Oh no.  _ Kori blinks. “What’s not?”

“We talked a lot about Tamaran, and Tamaranians, back in the day, that’s not– you never told me that. And I’ve  _ seen _ you have human-like trauma responses, if Tamaranian psychology is that different then…” He trails off as he notices Kori’s stiff body language and deer-in-the-headlights look. The others are all staring at her, and there’s a look on Roy’s face that Kori isn’t sure she likes.

“Kori,” he says, slowly, voice more than a little dangerous, “Did you lie to me about lying to me about having amnesia?”

“Ah.” Kori licks her lips. “It seems that I have been busted.”

“Explain,” Roy says. Kori does.

“Well, when Jason washed up ashore on my island, I didn’t– recognise him. The last time I’d seen him, he was fifteen, and he looked very different. So, when he asked to borrow some clothes and I gave him some old things of Dick’s I had lying about, and he questioned me, I– brushed it off. Made it sound like just some fling I’d had with a human, Tamaranians live so long that we don’t really remember individual humans we meet, you know…” The others are all giving her  _ looks _ . “I didn’t know who he was! I didn’t really want to talk about my failed relationships with an almost-total stranger, and to people who don’t really hang out with aliens, you can use the ‘I’m an alien’ excuse for a lot of things.” 

She very specifically  _ doesn’t _ mention that making up things about Tamaranian culture, biology, and psychology is a very secret pastime of hers that she’s been doing for almost as long as she’s been on earth. (She’s waiting for the day some of her old Titans friends end up on Tamaran, try to follow some made-up custom, and humiliate themselves. It’s a long con, but when it pays off, it will have been so,  _ so _ worth it.) 

“Then, Jason showed me the news article about your eminent execution, and I recognised you in the photo. And then it clicked just who he was. And at that point– I couldn’t just come clean. It would be– awkward.”

“Awkward,” Roy echoed, disbelieving.

“Yes,” Kori agreed matter-of-factly. “So I doubled down.”

“You committed to the bit,” Wally says, and Kori nods at him appreciatively.

“ _ Exactly _ . So I pretended to have amnesia.”

Garth has one eyebrow raised. Lilith looks faintly concerned. Donna’s mouth is twitching like she’s suppressing a smile. Wally looks somewhat approving, and also like he’s having the time of his life, while Dick looks vaguely horrified and Roy appears downright  _ betrayed _ . 

“So you  _ lied to me _ for most of our relationship because the alternative was  _ awkward?” _

Kori tries not to wince. 

“Did it not occur to you that the truth would eventually come out, and that would be even more awkward?” Dick asks her. 

“Well, Roy isn’t exactly a detective, so I wasn’t exactly expecting him to call me on it.”

“Hey!” 

“What about Jason?” Dick asks, ignoring Roy’s indignant squeak. 

“He had his own problems, and he didn’t know me well enough before to have a solid comparison.” She pauses, and then admits, “I did plan to tell you both eventually, but the timing was never right. I figured we’d laugh about it someday.”

Roy stares at her. “You lied to me.  _ About having amnesia _ . For  _ months _ . Because telling the truth was awkward, and you thought it’d be funny.”

Okay, Kori does wince at that one. “...Yes.”

Roy stares, silent and stony, for a beat. Two. 

And then bursts into laughter.

_ “Oh my god.” _

Kori blinks. “You are not mad?” she asks.

“I’m _furious_ ,” Roy tells her, between giggles. “Holy shit, Kor, this is– you’re a hot mess, you know that? You’re a fuckin’ _queen_ , and you decided it was too awkward to tell a guy that you remembered him after not recognising him and making some shitty comments towards his _estranged brother_ , so you _faked_ _amnesia_. That’s _ridiculous_.”

Kori tries not to scowl at him. “I guess it was a little over-the-top, but–”

“A little?” Roy wipes tears from the corners of his eyes. “Oh my god, someone pass me my phone, I need to tell Jason about this.”

“I’m… never going to live this down, am I?” Kori asks, a little faintly, as it dawns on her what’s happening.

“Never in your  _ life _ ,” Wally tells her, grinning. 

Kori looks at Garth’s judgement, Lilith’s small smile, the hand pressed over Donna’s grinning mouth, the complete fondness and exasperation and concern on Dick’s face, and bites back a groan. All things considered? This could have gone a lot worse.


End file.
